Chapter Text
“For you, Hildegard.” Zandar presented his bouquet to his fiancé, who smiled mischievously at the gift, pretending to consider its value to tease him.
She eventually gives him a smile and a kiss. “It's beautiful, thank you.” She inhales the fresh floral scent. “It rivals a bouquet of Nettledrops.”
Zander crosses his arms and smiles with pride. “That's high praise from the princess of Freezenburg. I’m glad you like them.”
Amber looked out at the island, arms crossed, a frown of uncertainty on her face. “So, you met a strange wild girl on the island, and you want to bring her with us?”
“That's right.” James says without hesitation.
“Are you CRAZY?!” Amber throws her arms out from the force of her exclamation as she turns to look at her twin. “She could have a disease, or some kind of weird aversion to clothes, she could be a cannibal for all we know!”
“Well she can talk to animals.” Zandar says with just as much carefree energy as his best friend.
Hildegard sighs. “I have to agree with Amber, this is foolish. Let her stay here. She seems to be perfectly content to exist without us. And that on its own should tell you that she’s uncivilized. There might even be something deeply wrong with her.”
“You two haven't even seen her.” Hugo points out. “She’s not dangerous. She saved us.”
“Just because she saved you all from your own foolishness does not discredit my points!” Amber turns her attention to him. “You don't know her either.”
Isabel cuts in to keep a fight from breaking out. “We’ll be here for a whole week. That should give us plenty of time to figure out if we should take her or not. Until then, let's not immediately jump to ‘take a stranger with us’ or ‘run away, she might be a cannibal’, alright?”
“Sounds good to me.” Zandar said as he hoisted the anchor.
“I’m in.” James grinned.
“...Alright, if we must.” Hildegard reluctantly agreed.
Hugo nodded while Amber huffed. “Oh, fine.” She gave in.
Bailiwick lined the packed color-coded backpacks up for each of the adventurers. “Your bags, your majesties.”
“Thanks, Bailiwick.” James slid the backpack over his shoulders.
“Where are you going?” Amber asked him.
“I’m going to set up camp on the beach, obviously.”
“You boys have a death wish.” Hildegard said exasperatedly, placing her flowers in a crystal vase.
“Oh relax, we almost got eaten in the swamp, not the beach!”
“And it's almost night.” Isabel gestured to the setting sun.
“Look, I’ll stay on the beach. I promise.”
Isabel sighed. “Okay. Go on.”
James grinned and jumped into a rowboat. “Lower me down, Hugo!”
Hugo rolled his eyes fondly, and helped his especially adventurous friend get down to the water.
As James rowed the boat back to the shore, Hildegard walked over to Isabel. “So…are you sure you want that one?”
Isabel sighed and smiled at Hildegard. “Yeah, I’m sure.”
“I’m just saying, unlike Amber and me you have a choice, just say the word and I’ll get you out of it with minimal tears.”
Isabel chuckled. “Thanks, but I really am sure.”
Her warm smile and the sincerity in her eyes set Hildegard at ease, and with a soft nod, the princess of Freezenburg returned to her friend to watch the sunset.
Hugo watched the shore, hoping to get another look at the island girl. Eventually he pulled himself away from the view of the island to get some rest. It was going to be a long day of adventure tomorrow.
…………………………………
James struck the flint and steel onto the kindling, getting the fire started. He blew on the embers, the fire growing with each breath.
“How did you do that?”
James turned around to see Sof standing on the outskirts of the beach camp. He only finished setting up his own tent, leaving the rest in a pile for the other boys to set up in the morning. The sky was dark, so it was a little hard to see her at the moment. “What, the fire?”
She nods. He holes out the flint and steel. “You just set up some small twigs and dry leaves, and strike these together and it makes a spark. Then you blow on it, and add some more wood to the fire to make it bigger.”
She kneels down in front of the fire pit, eyes gleaming with wonder. “That's amazing!”
“Yeah, don't touch it though. It'll burn.”
She gives him an amused smile. “I know what fire is. I just never thought to start one. It's always been so warm here. I never needed to.”
His brow furrowed in confusion as he got a closer look at her. Something about her seemed…familiar. Like he’d seen her somewhere before. But that couldn't have been possible, especially since she had been here for so long. She must be tough as a knight to have survived here all these years. Seriously, why did he know her face?!
Sof’s smile turned more confused. “Um, James, the fire is going out.”
“Huh?” He looked down. “Oh crap!” He puts some more kindling on and blows on it again, bringing it back to life. He snorts. “Almost had to start over.”
“Could you show me how to use this?” She asks, picking up the flint and steel.
“Sure, Sof.” He takes the items in question, and demonstrates onto the fire. She watches with a determined sort of concentration, and then he hands it off to her.
She takes it from her hand, looking between the two items, and repeats his actions. After a few tries, she gets a spark. Her smile brightens. “I did it!”
Amber was being ridiculous. There was nothing dangerous about this girl. She seemed sweet. “Yep, you sure did.”
She hands the fire starter back to him, watching the flames dance. “What’s it like, in civilization?”
“Well, there's a lot of people. And they live in towns and cities. They work and buy and sell things, and they throw parties, and…well, lots of things!”
“Sounds complicated.” She answers honestly.
“Nah, you’ll get used to it.” He pauses as he thinks that over, giving her a nervous smile. “That is, if you’re actually coming with us, you don't have to or anything.”
“I’m still talking it over with my friends.”
“What do they say?”
“Clover isn't sure. Robin and Mia are all for it. Minimus is scared. He thinks we have everything we need here and it might be too dangerous to leave.”
“You’ll be safe. Bailiwick is the best.”
“Who's Bailiwick?”
“He’s my family’s castle steward.”
She smiles in confusion. James laughs, embarrassed. “Oh, right. You probably don't know what that is either.”
“Nope.”
“Well, he takes care of us. You can always count on Bailiwick.”
“He sounds nice.”
“He is. You’ll love him.”
Sofia yawns. “It's getting late. I need to get home.”
“We’ll see you tomorrow, then?”
Sofia nods, standing up. “My friends and I have a few games we want to play with you all. It’ll be fun, I promise.”
“Games? I love games!”
“Me too!”
He waves. “Goodnight, Sof.”
She waves back. “Goodnight, Prince James .”
“Just James is fine.”
She nods in acknowledgement, then returns to the forest. James sleeps under the stars. She was nice.
…But why he get this weird feeling he recognized her?